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Nudge Education Policy Library

NEO — Guide to Examinations at NEO

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DateOctober 2026
Review DateAugust 2027, before each examination cycle, or sooner if the examination centre’s arrangements change
OwnerDirector, Nudge Education Online & Head of School, with the Exams Officer
Approved byFor approval by the Director, NEO & Head of School under authority delegated by the Proprietor (CEO of Nudge Education Ltd) on 13 October 2026; for noting at the NEO board on 3 December 2026
Versionv10.26

Who this is for. Part A is for parents, carers and learners. Part B is for Practitioner-Mentors, Qualified Educators and the Exams Officer. Commissioners may find both useful. The policies behind this guide are the Examination Venues Policy, the Examination Contingency Plan and the Appeals Procedure.

Dates and fees in this guide are correct at October 2026 for the 2026/27 academic year. The examination centre updates its website regularly and that website is the authority. Always check the live pages linked below before relying on a date.

Part A — For parents, carers and learners

1. How exams work at NEO, in one paragraph

NEO is an online school and is not an exam centre. When your child is ready to sit a public exam, you apply directly to our approved exam centre partner, Tutors & Exams, who run JCQ-approved exam centres across England and a remote invigilation service. You apply, you pay them, and your contract for the exam is with them. NEO’s job is to get your child ready, advise you on which exams to sit and when, make sure you know the deadlines, give you a discount code, and help with the evidence for any access arrangements. Exam fees are separate from NEO’s fees and are never paid to NEO.

2. Who does what

You (parent or carer)NEOTutors & Exams
Choosing subjects, exam board, specification, tier and when to sitDecide, with our adviceAdvise (Qualified Educator and Exams Officer)—
Making the applicationYou — nobody can do it for you, not NEO and not a local authorityHelp you get it rightReceive and process it
Paying the exam feeYou (or the bill payer) — directly to the centreNothing — NEO never holds exam feesInvoice and collect
Access arrangementsRequest them on the application and send evidenceSupply evidence of your child’s normal way of workingDecide, under JCQ rules, and tell you
Exam venue, dates, joining instructionsRead and follow themHelp you choose a centre or remoteAllocate and send
On the dayGet there on time with IDPastoral support beforehandRun the exam
Results and certificatesReceive them; please share results with NEOAdvise on next stepsIssue to you
Re-marks and appealsRequest them from the centreAdvise whether it is worth it, and help you ask in timeProcess with the exam board

Tutors & Exams will not send NEO your child’s results, entry details or access arrangement decisions — the data stays between you and them. That is why we ask you to share results with us (see section 10).

3. What NEO advises on

Your child’s Qualified Educator and the Exams Officer will agree with you which qualifications to enter, with the correct awarding organisation, specification code and tier (for example, Foundation or Higher for Maths), and which exam series is right. NEO’s standard offer is Pearson Edexcel International GCSE; where your child is continuing a specification started at a previous school, we will advise on that board instead. Get the codes from us in writing before you apply — an application with the wrong code or tier is your responsibility to correct with the centre, and changes after the deadline cost money.

4. Choosing where to sit

In a centre. Tutors & Exams has centres at Birmingham, Bolton, Coventry, Doncaster, High Wycombe, Mitcham, Newcastle, Romford, St Neots and Taunton (see centre locations). You choose the centre on the application. Not every subject or arrangement is available at every centre, and a specific venue is only confirmed by the joining instructions the centre sends you.

Open days. The centres hold open days most months from December through to the spring, usually 10:00–12:00 and 14:00–16:00, where you and your child can see the room, meet the centre team and ask questions. For a learner who finds new places hard, this is worth doing. Dates are at Open Day Bookings.

Remote invigilation (sitting at home). For some Pearson Edexcel International GCSEs — currently including English Language A, English Literature, Mathematics A and Combined Science — your child can sit the exam at home with a live Pearson invigilator. It is not currently available for Art and Design or Human Biology. It is not an access arrangement: it is a separate service with a Pearson service fee (£300 per subject in 2026/27, on top of the exam fee and not discounted). You will need a laptop with a webcam, a printer, a scanner and a second device (a phone or tablet) placed about two metres away. Some papers are on screen and some are paper-based, where the answer booklet is printed, written by hand and scanned back — and a printer is required either way as the back-up if systems fail. Around six weeks before the exam there is a mandatory 15-minute systems familiarisation; a candidate who has not completed it can be refused the remote sitting. Remote has earlier deadlines than in-centre entry. Details, requirements and costs are at Remote Invigilation Service; the remote team is remoteinvigilation@tutorsandexams.uk. Some access arrangements cannot be delivered remotely, so check with the remote team before applying if your child needs one.

5. Before you apply — the checklist

Have ready:

  • the subject, awarding organisation, specification code and tier from NEO, in writing;
  • your child’s full legal name and date of birth exactly as on their ID, and their UCI (unique candidate identifier) if they have sat exams before;
  • photo ID — a passport or driving licence; if your child has neither, the centre’s “No ID” form explains what to do;
  • a recent head-and-shoulders photo of your child (it is printed on their desk card so they can check it is their paper, name, date and time);
  • any access arrangement needs and the evidence for them (section 7); and
  • NEO’s referral code. The Exams Officer gives it to you directly. Please do not share it or post it anywhere: it is for NEO families only, and misuse would mean the centre withdraws it for everyone.

6. Applying, the discount and the deadlines

Apply at Apply Now. On the form, say you are applying through a learning partner, enter Nudge Education Online and NEO’s referral code. The code takes 12.5% off the standard entry fee for (International) GCSEs and GCEs when your complete application — information, evidence and payment — is in before the standard entry deadline. It does not apply to late or high-late fees, remote invigilation, access arrangement assessments, post-results services, postage or other extras, and it cannot usually be combined with another offer. Fees are at Fees and Awarding Bodies.

Tutors & Exams’ deadlines are earlier than the exam boards’, because the centre checks every application and files every access arrangement itself. For summer 2027 the key dates are:

Date
Standard entry deadline — all UK and International qualifications7 February 2027
Late fees apply from8 February 2027
Entries close4 April 2027
Art and Design, Photography, Textiles and all Music — entries close (no late entry)7 February 2027
Modern foreign languages, and any qualification with coursework, NEA or a practical — entries close14 March 2027
Pearson remote invigilation — entry deadline1 February 2027
Access arrangements evidence — remote invigilation, modified papers, home invigilation20 December 2026
Access arrangements evidence — all other arrangements10 January 2027

January 2027 (Pearson International resits and some subjects) and the autumn series have their own, earlier dates. The live list is at Entry Deadline Dates. NEO’s advice: apply as soon as the subjects are agreed, and if your child needs access arrangements, apply with all the evidence before the end of the autumn term. An incomplete application before the deadline does not hold the standard fee.

After you apply you will get a Statement of Entry from the centre. Check every line against the codes NEO gave you and tell the centre at once if anything is wrong. Please also tell the Exams Officer that you have applied, so we can plan your child’s preparation.

7. Access arrangements

Access arrangements — for example 25% extra time, supervised rest breaks, a reader, a scribe, a word processor, a prompt, or a separate room — remove a disadvantage without changing what is being tested. They are decided by the centre’s Access Arrangements Team under the JCQ regulations, not by NEO, and a previous arrangement at another school does not carry over automatically.

The test is your child’s normal way of working: the support they ordinarily use when learning and doing assessed work, not something introduced for the exam. A diagnosis on its own is often not enough. Evidence can include reports from professionals and a statement from the school about how your child normally works. NEO’s SENCo will provide that statement at your request, describing the support your child uses in lessons and assessments at NEO, and will help you understand what the centre is asking for. The sooner needs are raised, the better: tell us at enrolment, request the arrangements on the application, and send the evidence well before the dates in section 6. Some assessments (for example a Form 8 assessment where one is required) carry an additional fee. The centre’s guidance is at Access Arrangements; the team is aa@tutorsandexams.uk.

8. Coursework, NEA and practical components

Some qualifications include a component that is not a written exam — coursework, non-examined assessment (NEA), a practical, a speaking test or a portfolio. Being able to enter the written papers does not mean the centre can accept the other component, and those components have separate deadlines, fees and evidence requirements (Non-Examined Assessment). NEO’s standard offer is designed around examined specifications. If your child’s course includes such a component, NEO will confirm with you before you apply whether it can be delivered, and we will never promise that it can until the centre has confirmed it.

9. Preparing, mocks and the day itself

Preparation at NEO is built into the course: the Qualified Educator leads revision and sets timed past papers, and the Practitioner-Mentor works with your child on routine, rest and nerves in the weeks before. NEO runs its own mock papers; Tutors & Exams also offer in-person mock exams at their centres (marked or unmarked, at a fee, with their own booking deadlines), but not remote mocks.

On the day: arrive with the joining instructions and photo ID, in good time, with the permitted equipment only. The centre applies the JCQ rules on late arrival, conduct and prohibited items. If your child is ill, or anything goes wrong on the day, tell the centre first (their contact details are in the joining instructions) and NEO the same day — there is a route called special consideration which you can apply for through the centre, and NEO will help you with it and supply any evidence we hold. Our Examination Contingency Plan says what we do in each case.

10. Results, certificates and what happens next

Results are issued to you by Tutors & Exams through their candidate portal or by email; certificates follow some months later and are sent to the address the centre holds. NEO does not receive either. Please share your child’s results with us on results day — we need them to advise on next steps, to report to a commissioning local authority where there is one, and to understand how well we are doing. We ask for your agreement to this at enrolment.

If a result is lower than expected, speak to the Exams Officer straight away: we will say honestly whether a review of marking looks worthwhile, and help you request it from the centre before their deadline. Marks can go down as well as up, there is a fee (refunded if the grade changes), and only you can make the request. Our Appeals Procedure explains the full route, up to the exam board and Ofqual.

11. If something goes wrong

Questions about an application, a fee, a venue, an invoice or an exam day go to the centre: telephone and email, Monday to Friday 08:30–15:30, and they aim to respond within 72 hours (longer in the exam season). Complaints about the centre go to feedback@tutorsandexams.uk under the centre’s own policy (Policies). Complaints about NEO’s teaching, advice or support come to us under our Appeals and Complaints Policy. If your child is worried about anything at a venue, tell NEO’s Designated Safeguarding Lead as well as the centre.

12. Your data

What you give the centre — including your child’s photo ID and photograph — is held by Tutors & Exams under their own privacy notice and retention policy, available on their website; they are responsible for it. NEO does not send your child’s data to the centre and does not receive it back. Evidence NEO writes for access arrangements goes to you, or to the centre at your request, and a copy stays on your child’s SEND record. Results you share with us are held on your child’s record under our Data Protection, Confidentiality and Privacy Policy.

Part B — For practitioners

13. The model in three lines

NEO is a Learning Partner (Referral Partner) of Tutors & Exams under an annual SLA. The family applies, pays and contracts with the centre directly. NEO advises, prepares and supports — and has no authority to enter, amend or withdraw a candidate, request or confirm an access arrangement, request a post-results service, or obtain candidate data from the centre.

14. What you may and may not say

The SLA makes these commitments on NEO’s behalf. They bind every member of staff.

You may: give NEO’s referral code to an eligible NEO family (one to one, never in a group message or on anything public); point families to the centre’s current application form, fees and deadlines; advise on awarding organisation, specification, tier and series (this is NEO’s responsibility and must be right); explain the process as set out in Part A; and describe NEO as a Tutors & Exams Learning Partner.

You may not: guarantee that an exam, a centre, a venue, an access arrangement, a remote sitting or an NEA/practical component will be available; say or imply that an access arrangement is approved before the centre has confirmed it to the family; apply, or help a local authority apply, on a family’s behalf; take or hold any exam fee; ask the centre for any information about a candidate because they used our code; make commitments on the centre’s behalf; or describe NEO as an exam centre or as able to make entries.

15. Who routes what where

The question is aboutSend it to
Which subjects, board, specification, tier, seriesQualified Educator → Exams Officer confirms the codes in writing to the family
The application form, fees, invoices, deadlines, venue, joining instructions, results, certificatesThe family contacts the centre directly; the Exams Officer can help them frame it
Access arrangements — what to request and what evidenceSENCo (evidence of normal way of working) and Exams Officer (what the centre needs); the family makes the request
Remote invigilation suitability, equipment, familiarisationFamily → remoteinvigilation@tutorsandexams.uk; Exams Officer tracks the familiarisation date
Coursework, NEA, practicalsHead of School decides whether NEO offers the route; nothing promised until the centre confirms; NEA needs a separate agreement with the centre
Illness or disruption on the dayFamily → centre first; Exams Officer helps with special consideration the same day (Contingency Plan)
A safeguarding concern connected to a venue, another candidate or centre staffNEO’s DSL, who decides what is shared with safeguarding@tutorsandexams.uk — never direct to the centre by other staff
A complaint about the centreFamily → feedback@tutorsandexams.uk; systemic concerns to the Director NEO & Head of School for the SLA review
Disagreement with NEO’s advice or markingAppeals Procedure

16. The Practitioner-Mentor’s part

You are the family’s first point of contact, so most exam questions will land with you. Your job is pastoral and practical: make sure the family has the Guide and knows the Exams Officer; check in the autumn term that any access arrangement need has been raised and evidenced; notice when a learner’s anxiety about the venue is building and suggest an open day; help the learner build a revision routine that honours the Cornerstones (movement, rest, nutrition, connection matter more in exam season, not less); and on results day, be there. Route administrative questions on rather than guessing at them — a confident wrong answer about a deadline costs the family money.

17. The Exams Officer’s calendar

Autumn term: confirm subjects and codes with each Qualified Educator and family; issue the Guide and the referral code; chase access arrangement evidence before the centre’s December/January deadlines; log who has applied. Spring term: confirm applications and Statements of Entry before the standard entry deadline; track remote familiarisation dates; prepare joining-instruction reminders. Summer term: on-the-day support and special consideration; results-day advice and post-results deadlines. Annually: review this Guide and the three policies before the cycle starts, and ask the centre for the count of applications made with NEO’s code (a number, not names). Keep the examinations log; keep personal data out of shared surfaces.

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